China Aster Blend Aster Seeds

This was my first time growing asters. I was pleasantly surprised by their cheerful beauty. I sewed 2 seeds in a milk jug and both came up. I happily got one pink and one purple but didn’t think about getting a picture of the purple as they bloomed the following week while we were on vacation. I transplanted them into pots but this year I will put them straight in the ground as my pots were too short to support their height and bushiness forcing me to prop the pots up against things. They use a bit of water so I think in the ground they will be happier. But even with the water and support struggle they performed extremely well. I’m looking forward to planting them again this year.

We sowed these in flats with potting soil on August 17, 2020 and they quickly began to pop up on August 21st. However, out of the 84 cells that we planted, only 20 came up! I'm really surprised because we have been buying Botanical Interests seeds for years and we rarely have a germination rate this low. We followed the instructions on the packet, sowing in late summer since we are in a mild climate and with the recommended amount of sun (but protected from the harsh Texas heat). Not sure what went wrong. I was really hopeful these would do well, as we really need to find some pretty flowers that do well in partial shade!